Can AI Help Make Better Company Culture?

Artificial Intelligence or AI is a branch of computer science which involves smart machines working and reacting like humans. In business purposes, it is the intelligence developed by computers that use machine learning and algorithms in organizing behavioral patterns. Machines are capable of doing what we only program them to do so their intelligence relies solely on humans who build them to perform simple or complex tasks.  AI is a system which  is capable of learning and changing its behavior from time to time and is possibly able to grow  or learn beyond anything the designer had in mind.

In a workplace, AI is commonly referred to as automation but they are two different things. Automation is simply doing a routinary or repeatable task faster and more efficiently like automating manual reporting but it's still just automation. AI is in place if the machine or that program will only work with the specific tasks it was built for and will not adapt to circumstance or be able to react to a new situation.

We have been using AI day after day after day. In travelling, think of how you were able to escape traffic and navigate from one direction to another because of Waze. Aside from making your life easier and stress free from commuting, Waze app can help you find the best route without having to be told using AI. It assesses your patterns of travel based on time of day and destination so you can  automatically plan your direction based on the pattern it has learned from your everyday travel. We also use facial detection and recognition when taking pictures and using face ID for unlocking our phones. Those are two applications of AI that are now part of our daily lives. Face detection is identifying any human face and face recognition is acknowledging a specific face registered to a certain device. Text editors or autocorrect are also examples of AI. In typing out documents, there are inbuilt or downloadable auto-correcting tools for editors that check for spelling mistakes, grammar, readability, and plagiarism depending on their complexity level. It takes years for linguists and computer scientists to teach machines grammar, just like you were taught at school. Machines are equipped with huge amounts of high-quality language data in a manner they can understand. So when you use even a single comma incorrectly, the editor will mark it red and prompt suggestions. So, the next time you have a language editor check your document, know that you are using one of the many examples of artificial intelligence.

Let's go into business. In order to improve an AI enterprise, there should be a repeatable process or something that should be automated and a decision required for an issue to be solved and a product or service to be useful. Industries like law enforcement, IT, nursing, retail, or just about anything else that needs computer interaction or paperwork involves tedious administrative tasks. Imagine how you can be so efficient in delivering reports if you had ways to automate documentation. That would be a real benefit to you as a human. You have your grammar and spell-checker to auto-complete and predict what you intend on writing in text messages, emails, and other documents. AI may not get it right instantly when it comes to pivot tables, chart data, or map out architecture but compared to the time it takes for Excel formulae and functions to auto-complete, you’ll save on the many tasks as it predicts and learns. Indeed, most entrepreneurs  find AI helpful rather than obstruction.

The effects of AI in a corporate culture is remarkably good. Nowadays, you don't have to complete employee surveys which ask you similar questions over and over during performance appraisals.  Companies can now easily analyze and recognize the strengths and weaknesses of employees with the help of systems full of employee's performance results. These systems have been remarkably good at predicting if  employees are to be promoted or simply deserve a raise.  

Given these examples of AI which free you from stressful tasks of administrative work, you and your colleagues can better engage in innovation, collaboration, and imaginative pursuits. Meetings can become an engaging moment to look forward to when thought of as an opportunity to bring in new ideas with your coworkers, rather than the added pressure of doing repetitive tasks that demands a lot of time. Your company can now cultivate a culture where value and ideas are prioritized rather than time spent. These are just some of the goals you can achieve  with proper application of AI in the workplace.

It is vital for company success to establish and maintain a healthy, sound company culture which is a hit in AI. While automation can leave more time for collaboration, it can also lessen our need for human interaction. Always make an effort to bring your team together and promote collaboration with events and shared meals. Company outings, family days or catered lunches are great opportunities to help your company cultivate innovation and culture.